Ashley at 2 months

Ashley is 10 weeks old this week and she is getting so big. I can't believe how fast she's grown especially compared to Paige. She went in for her two month check-up with the doctor and to get a handful of shots. She weighed 10lb. 5oz. as compared with her birthweight of 6lb. 6oz. Paige wasn't 10 pounds until she was 6 months old. Needless to say she has a few rolls and some fun cheeks to kiss (which I do all the time). We blessed her July 12th and had all of Scott's family there, my family there, and some great friends attending. Scott gave the most beautiful blessing which I've enclosed in her baby book. I'm very blessed to have such an amazing priesthood holder who honors his priesthood and stays close to the Lord.
The baby blessing

Let me tell you some of the things she is doing now. First and foremost is smiling. It is so cute and you can tell she wants to talk to you and laugh with you but still not quite there. She uses her whole body just to give us one little coo that melts our hearts. She is on the "baby wise" schedule (which I swear by) so she wakes up at about 6 or 7 and eats then I put her back down to bed. Three hours later she's up again eating. I change her and then we keep her awake for about an hour where she spends that time in her bouncer, lying on the flour looking up at the ceiling, smiling, and being very happy. (Not a huge fan of her swing) She'll then start to get fussy so I bundle her up and lay her down in the crib where she'll cry for about 5 minutes and then fall asleep for about 1.5 hours. This routine repeats itself until her bedtime at 9:30 when she'll sleep all through the night. Lucky huh! I am very blessed to have been given two very easy babies. No colic or fussiness. At first, the adjustment with two was very difficult for me. I would be in my jammy's until 5pm and wouldn't have eaten lunch that day. I was stuck on the couch with Paige watching movies all day. I have now developed a routine where I actually get a shower at a reasonable hour. One thing that has personally helped me was switching Ashley to the bottle rather than breast feeding. The whole process stressed me out and to be honest, I hated it. Breast feeding wasn't for me. Since Paige was bottle fed I new that Ashley wasn't going to be stupid or sick all the time so that was a comfort to me as I started exclusively bottle feeding Ashley.

Paige is amazing with Ashley. I was so worried about how Paige would treat Ashley and how the two would interact. There was nothing to worry about. Paige loves her and thinks she's "so cute". She's also very helpful in letting us know when Ashley is crying and will run right into the bedroom to comfort her. The other day, I left the room and came back in to see Paige playing peek-a-boo with Ashley. She's also given her toys if she's lying on the floor crying. There isn't much resentfullness or jealousy unless Paige wants to be held at the same time. We make it work out though. I have LOVED the time I've spent with Ashley. I've been sending Paige to the babysitter twice a week to keep her in the routine and keep her spot in the day care. It has been so nice for Ashley and I to bond. We wake up and snuggle in bed. I hold her, gaze into her gorgeous eyes, and kiss her chubby cheeks. I love her more and more every day! I am blessed to have my beautiful daughters and cherish the opportunity to be their mother.

Summer fun

This summer has been so fun for me. First off a new baby and then three months off to spend with this new baby. Unfortunately, the time has been flying by and probably because of all the fun things we're doing this summer. First off, I've been really lucky to have my mom come and spend a few days with us here and there. She helps with one child while I take care of the other child. It has helpedd\ me adjust to taking care of two children and I really appreciate it.

The first catch up post was the fourth of July. I love the fourth of July for the bar-b-ques and spending time with the fam. This year we headed up to Logan for their anual third of July fireworks. We started out helping my sister hang decorations around her newly renovated house. Then we headed to the theater for the new Ice Age movie. It was funny and the kids loved it. After the movie, we got Pounders Grill (our favorite Hawaiian feast) and went to the church where we always watch the fireworks. It was beautiful weather and it was nice to just sit and visit. Our good friends, the Stone's, joined us and we loved watching the fireworks. Then the next day, the ladies and kids slept in while the boys got up at the crack of dawn to go golfing. AFter that was breakfast at the Golden Corral, a favorite of ours. Then we headed home with my mom joining us. That night we had Scott's brother, Dale and his family along with the Stone's and out neighbors the Toone's, over for some bar-b-que and swimming in our pool.



Our next outing was later that week. My mom has to go to Salt Lake every month for a medication infusion. We tagged along with her and while she was being infused, we took the kids to the discovery center. It was lots of fun. There was so much to do and we couldn't tear Paige away from the water feature. After that activity, we went to Hires for their yummy hamburgers. Fun times with my sisters.

Golfing with the hubby! (a post created for ZEB)

Us on the ninth green after my par

So you're all probably wondering about the title. Apparently I do not blog enough for our friend, Zeb. He hates it when the post is over 1 week old so here's an update. This morning Scott and I were able to go golfing. A first for me since I got pregnant. I was so excited and was so grateful for my sister-in-law, Jennica who watched both the girls. She's so generous considering that she's pregnant and has an active 2 year old son. (Thanks a ton.) We played at El Monte and the weather was beautiful. It wasn't too hot and there was a nice breeze blowing. On top of that, the mountains looked beautiful. The perfect morning for my first par. I was driving so well and came very close to par on about three holes but my short game is so terrible that I choked every time. Finally at the ninth hole, I had an amazing drive strait down the middle. I pulled out my 4 iron and hit it up the hill on to the edge of the green. Instead of chipping (which for me is like driving again), I used my putter to get within 3 feet of the cup. At this point, Scott is so thrilled and nervous for me. He was very helpful in setting up my put and wallah! I'm in and it was legitimate. The people teeing off the first tee were probably wondering what the heck all my cheering was for. It's probably a regular thing for them to get a par but for me, a rare feat. We celebrated and took Paige and Ashley for a picnic in the park. What a great morning. (Zeb, Scott misses the summer you two spent hours at El Monte and the many clubs you had to replace.)

My drive off the ninth


Look at his form. Wooh, hooh!

Monkey see, monkey do at the Zoo!

The group of kids and grandma

Paige is ready

Ah, you have to love the Hogle Zoo. Entrance to the park: $18 for Scott and I, Number of kids in our group to keep track of: 7 (plus baby Ashley), number of adults to keep track of kids: 7, time spent in the park: 3 hours, amount of animals to see: tons, time spent with these enthusiastic and fun kids: priceless. It was fun going to the zoo with my sisters and the kids were in heaven. It was finally sunny, even a little on the warm side (enough for my sweat to smell like BO, ack). My favorite were the giraffes which were being fed while we were there. They are graceful and beautiful animals, unlike myself ha ha! After the Zoo we headed to the training table for lunch and a great visit then off to the discovery center at the Gateway (thanks Jen for the 2 for 1 coupons). Unfortunately, they were only going to be open for another 40 min. so we decided to head up the street to the Planetarian. The kids were in heaven. They loved it. There was one hectic moment when I needed to get on their humongous elevator with my stroller. My niece ran ahead to get it open but I wasn't fast enough. As the doors were closing, I hit the up button but my niece had already hit the floor number. The elevator doors were really confused and staying in a suspended state. After rescuing my niece off the elevator, the doors would no longer close therefor breaking the elevator. Yeah! Then when we went to tell someone about the situation, my daughter comes down the stairs with none other than the manager and the security guard. Apparently she was "lost". Now a little bit embarrassed at being a poor parent in a public setting, I wasn't about to tell them about the elevator too. At that moment Ashley started crying. Needless to say, I was a little frazzled and took it out on Scott for a brief second. After my sister rescued Ashley and I calmed down, it was off to playing again. The only thing I wish I had was a nap in a bottle for Paige, who was so tired and took out her frustrations on Ashley by hitting her. Not a good moment. Otherwise, what a great day spent with my fun sisters, their funny husbands, and amazing mom.
Ashley did great

She loves her fist

You've got to love the giraffes

Looking for the tiger

Paige was awesome at chopsticks

Can't forget the Carousel

Paige staring down the orangutan

A little out of date

So I forgot to post a couple of events that we've participated in this year. I want to make sure we get it all down because this has become a sort of journal for me. The first activity was the family outing to Brian Regan on February 26th. Scott and I are huge fans of Brian Regan. He makes us laugh sooo much. He is clean and his humor just fits our. We introduced him to our family by making them watch You tube clips of him and they got the Brian Regan bug. In the months of Jan. and Feb. are all my sisters birthdays (mine included) along with Scott's and my brother-in-laws. My mom decided to get tickets to the Brian Regan show that was coming to Logan for all of our birthday gifts. It was a great gift with dinner at the Coppermill beforehand. Due to my pregnancy and weak bladder, I would literally pee my pants when I laughed. Well worth it though. Here are some pictures of my family at dinner and at the show. Thanks mom for an evening of laughter. The best medicine of all.



In April, my family participated in events associated with the SLC marathon. Angela came up with this idea as my dad was fighting cancer. We decided to raise $5000 for cancer research in my dad's name and run in various races. Friends, family, coworkers, buisnesses, and more donated to help raise over $6000 in a three month period. A huge thanks to all who contributed to this event. We made sort of a family vacation of it with my mom and a couple of my sisters staying overnight in SLC. Angela and her friend Max ran the marathon. Her friends Jenn and Jenny ran the 1/2 marathon. Megan, Trent (her husband), Eric (Angela's husband), Kimberly, Scott, my niece Breanna, friends of Angela's, and megan's sister-in-law ran the 5K with my 10yr. old niece beating everyone. The rest of the grandkids along with parents, me, and my mom walked the 1 mile. My mom wasn't able to stand let alone walk 5 years ago due to her MS. This was a pretty big deal for her and although she was behind all the little kids and the oldest participant in the race, she was awesome. She trained for this walk by walking up a huge hill to our churchhouse and walking around the churchhouse. We were so proud of her and couldn't contain the tears from our eyes as she crossed the finish line. I know my dad would have been immensely impressed with her hard work and dedication. After that was a trip to Chuck-E-Cheese for a kids celebration and to celebrate my niece's birthday. What fun times.

Part of the gang

Our awesome shirts

Mom getting ready

My mom about to cross the finish line

Paige at Chuck-E-Cheese on her favorite ride, the merry go round

Welcome Ashley Halia Roberts!

Scott and I preparing for another addition to our family

Me in labor with only a sucker to tide me through

We are so excited to introduce the newest member of our family. Ashley Halia Roberts came into the world on Mother's Day (May 10th) at 9:16pm weighing 6lbs 6oz with a length of 20inches. (Halia in Hawaiian means in loving memory after my dad.) After taking some good advice from Megan on how to progress natural induction, I woke up Sunday morning with some minor contractions. It was about 7am and I told Scott to plan on having a baby that day. The contractions weren't close together or very intense so I knew we had a long day ahead of us. We showered and bathed Paige and then we waited. We finalized our arrangements on where Paige was going and made sure she and I were all packed up. By about 1pm, there was more intensity in my contractions but they were still twenty minutes apart. So we decided to put Paige down for a nap. The house at this point was completely clean due to trying to pass the time and still it was a waiting game so we once again took Megan's advice and that jumped the contractions up to every 8 minutes with great intensity. The funny thing is that my sisters have the 1-4pm church and Megan was my mom's ride down so we were communicating and updating via text messages in church. Due to the great planning, we also had to cancel our big mother's day dinner. By about 4:30, we woke up Paige and decided to take her up to Scott's parents and then we would head over to the hospital to be evaluated. My contractions were still very irregular but such high intensity that I couldn't talk through them. When we arrived at the hospital, it was during shift change so they put me in a room and hooked up all the monitors. Then we waited through a few more contractions and the monitor wasn't picking them up. I was so worried they'd send me home and make me endure the contractions at home. Apparently the nurse could hear me breathing through them and the monitor just wasn't registering them. She checked me and I was dilated to a 4+. She left a message with my doctor and after a half hour, another doctor gave the okay to admit me. Yeah! I made it past the big hurdle. The nurse then said I could have the epidural after they ran a whole liter of fluid into me. Fortunately that went quickly and when the anesthesiologist walked into the room at 7:30, I told him I loved him and was more than happy to see him. At this point my mom and sister had arrived to help keep company. I'm not a big fan of getting the epidural. They hurt but Scott was right by my side holding my hand and helping me through the pain. He was so good to keep giving me kisses and encourage me. I was in heaven once the epidural kicked in. I could feel the pressure of everything but couldn't feel any pain. It was wonderful. My doctor got there at around 9pm (she had been in church in slc and had missed the closing hymn). She said that we were ready to have the baby and that I was at a 9 and fully effaced. At this point she broke my water and they set everything up to go to work. I was really itchy from the epidural and shaking something fierce so I was ready to get over that part of it. My mom was by my head and Scott was helping me push by holding my legs. After about 5 pushes, she came. I am lucky to have such little babies that pop right out. I could feel her coming through but no pain. Pure heaven. We were so excited to see her red hair. She was so close in resemblence to Paige, it was fun to see the comparisons. After they cleaned her up, we were able to hold her. What a special moment. Then Paige came up to the hospital. We were a little nervous about how she would react but she was so excited and fascinated by this new baby. She kept saying she was cute and touching her so very delicately. Scott took Ashley down to the nursery to her bath, my mom and sister went home, and Candace (our great friends who took Paige for a couple days) took Paige home. I was alone in the room and felt such a tremendous sense of joy and contentment. This little baby had been with our Savior moments before. She had had the opportunity to meet her big brother Keiki, and her grandpa Armstrong. Now she was my gift on that beautiful mother's day. After they wheeled me to my new room, I was so tuckered out that I couldn't keep my eyes open. I had enough time to wolf down a turkey sandwich and say goodnight to Ashley before they wheeled her down the hall to the nursery for the night (of course with feeding time interruptions) before I conked out. The delivery was quick, painless, and beautiful. My thanks to the wonderful nurses and of course Dr. Rosemary Lesser for making the experience of childbirth wonderful.
Dad cutting the cord

Mom holding Ashley

Dad holding Ashley

Our new family


Beautiful redhead

Grandma Armstrong

Grandma and Grandpa Roberts

Scott feeding me during nursing

Going home from the hospital in the gigantic carseat

Paige loves her little sister